Could This Ohio Democrat Become the Next Speaker?

Marcia Fudge said she does not believe Nancy Pelosi has the votes to become speaker. Whether she steps up to be Democrats’ alternative is another question.

By NTK Staff | 11.15.2018 @12:00pm

Anti-Pelosi Democrats are sure the California Democrat does not have the votes to retake the speaker’s gavel when it comes up for a vote. For her part, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has said she is “100 percent” confident she will again become speaker.

What’s clear is that one side in this debate will be proven wrong. What’s less clear is if Pelosi is in fact going to be denied the speakership, who will Democrats support?

“People are asking me to do it, and I am thinking about it,” Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I need to give it some thought and see if I have an interest. I am at the very beginning of this process. It is just in discussion at this point.”

Fudge’s public mulling of a run for speaker breathes new life into the anti-Pelosi efforts and lends legitimacy to their cause.

In terms of math, Pelosi’s challenge is very real: she needs 218 votes to become speaker. Sixty-three Democrats voted against Pelosi in the last leadership elections in which Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) ran against her. That’s not to say that all 63 of those Democrats will again vote against Pelosi, but about 10-15 newly elected Democrats made similar pledges on the campaign trail this year.

The anti-Pelosi sentiment is certainly alive and well within the Democrats’ caucus. But without someone to run against her, those Democrats are virtually powerless. Fudge’s potential candidacy could change all of that.

House Democrats are expected to vote on their leadership team on Nov. 29, followed by a full floor vote in the House of Representatives in January.